The 16-year-old student sat down at a picnic table outside his classroom, not far from where a classmate was shot the day before. Since he turned 11, every day of his life has been the same, he told me, as he waited for his mother to pick him up. "I gotta watch my back, everywhere I go. If you live in L.A., you have to. You look to see who's around you, who's at the corner. That's why I always go with friends, because there's someone else to watch your back."

1. MINNESOTA VIKINGS Still dejected over the championship that should have been, the Vikings have their sights on Atlanta in more ways than one--getting past the Falcons in the playoffs and reaching the Super Bowl. Coach: Dennis Green (71-41). 1998 record: 15-1. Newcomer to make impact: End John Burrough, who made 21 tackles for Atlanta last season. Little-known fact: The Vikings are the only 15-victory team not to reach the Super Bowl.

Many baseball gamblers expected big things from the Colorado Rockies this season based on how they finished last year. The Rockies won 13 of their last 14 regular-season games and a one-game playoff over San Diego before sweeping Philadelphia and Arizona in the playoffs. But Colorado, which lost to Boston in last year's World Series, has been anything but a sure bet this season.

Walt Hazzard is the Gene Mauch of basketball coaches. He is never going to have a winner. He doesn't know how to manage his players. He doesn't even know who to start half the time. You just can't beat Oral Roberts and Penn and think your team is coming around. RICK BRACAMONTES Orange

Volunteering your services while on vacation can be a darned expensive undertaking. The volunteer programs of one venerable group, for example, cost $1,500 to $3,000 per person, excluding air fare. So what's a frugal do-gooder to do? Help the hikers. The American Hiking Society offers volunteer vacations whose prices can't be beat.

Dodger pitcher Ismael Valdes has angered teammates and club officials because he is often reluctant to challenge batters. Valdes provided more fodder for his critics Saturday at 3Com Park in the San Francisco Giants' 18-4 victory--the Dodgers' worst loss of the season. The right-hander acknowledged he performed horribly after giving up nine hits--including a grand slam--and seven runs in only 2 2/3 innings.

There are two soccer teams in Manchester, England: Manchester United, which is the reigning English and European champion and boasts such stars as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, and Manchester City, which appears to be drifting into realms seldom visited by any team, let alone those in the Premier League. Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand who owns Manchester City, has ordered club officials to bury feng shui crystals beneath the playing surface at the team's Eastland's stadium and also to place them at strategic spots around the ground.

Question: After 26 years in the business world, I am now retired and have decided to redecorate our home. There are many things we have closed our eyes to over the years and are now going to try to make our home a place to enjoy. We have a long narrow living room with high ceiling of about 12 feet. The far end of the room has a floor-to-ceiling wall of rock. It is very dark-colored slate-type--or some say Palos Verde. Almost as dark as a blackboard.

Gail Boone's televisions have not been off since the presidential primaries. And for the past 36 days, she says, she has barely left her San Diego home, except for dawn runs to the grocery store and occasional forays to a takeout taco stand. Her hair is a mess, says the 69-year-old George W. Bush supporter, and she has gained 20 pounds since election night because of her jittery eating habits.